Various substrate processing equipments are adapted to convey various conveying systems and substrates while allowing them to come in physical contact with each other. During this operation, when foreign matters are adhered to these substrates and conveying systems, the subsequent substrates can be successively contaminated. This, it is necessary that the equipment be regularly suspended for cleaning purpose. This causes the drop of operating efficiency or requires much labor to disadvantage. In order to solve these problems, a method has been proposed which comprises conveying a substrate having an adhesive material attached thereto to clean foreign matters away from the interior of the substrate processing equipment (as in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication 10-154686).
The method which comprises conveying a substrate having an adhesive material attached thereto to clean foreign matters away from the interior of the substrate processing equipment is an effective method for overcoming the foregoing difficulties. However, this method is disadvantageous in that the adhesive material and the contact area of the equipment adhere to each other too strongly to peeled off each other, making it impossible to assure the complete conveyance of the substrate.